Category Archives: Dogs4us Own Statements

**IMPORTANT – PLEASE READ** We did not want to have to make this statement as we have no interest in public infighting within the anti-puppy farming movement. However, our hand has been forced by the disgusting and libellous accusation made by former Dogs4Us store manager Nicola Robinson. This is not the first time she has publicly attacked our group, but this time she has stepped way over the line. She is now claiming we took action that harmed the dogs.

We can state clearly and categorically that Boycott Dogs4Us never shut the water off at any Dogs4Us premises. If Robinson or her former co-conspirators at Dogs4Us have any evidence of this claim we invite them to provide it. All our demonstrations are attended to by the police and, had this happened, Robinson or her then colleagues would have had ample opportunity to report it to the police. Robinson had long conversations with the police and was often out watching and laughing at protesters.

If Robinson believed her own lie this begs the question why she attended and spoke at two Boycott Dogs4Us demonstrations.

Nicola Robinson and her group Save Our Pups has attacked/argued with other respected campaign groups and individuals including Marc the Vet, C.A.R.I.A.D, PupAid, Yonni from Saynotopetshoppups and Robinson’s former campaign supporters including long term activists such as Mary Parker and Steven McLean.

Robinson is a danger to the movement… she has not only caused divisions, duped campaigners with her blatant lies but also oversaw terrible standards of cleanliness inside Dogs4Us that she as a manager had the responsibility to rectify. We have never made a public statement like this but we feel it is our duty to strongly advise all activists to avoid Robinson and her group Save Our Pups.

Our campaign organised a protest outside Parliament with TV Vet Marc Abraham calling for a ban on the sale of puppies in pet shops and other third-party dealers in support of PupAid and C.A.R.I.A.D, who were giving oral evidence to the committee. The protest was attended by Labour MP Rob Flello, Conservative MP David Amess, SNP MP Paul Monaghan, Labour MP Rosie Cooper, Linda Goodman (CARIAD), Leigh-Catherine Salway (K-9 Angels), and Jodie Marsh (Bodybuilder and Glamour Model).

Due to the work of national campaign groups Pup Aid and CARIAD and support from smaller groups such as ourselves, the committee published a report recommending a ban on the sale of puppies in pet shops and by other third party dealers. Boycott Dogs4Us’ evidence was very briefly quoted as part of the report.

Aran Mathai from Boycott Dogs4Us spoke on BBC 2 about why the sale of puppies in pet shops needs to be banned.

Following the protest we went on to secure local politician’s support for our campaign. We were overwhelmed by messages of support from both Councillors and MPs. You can see the messages on our Celebrity and Political Support page.

Working with our local political contacts we worked behind and in front of the scenes pushing the Councils to take action regarding Dogs4Us, including holding a protest outside each store which highlighted an investigation by the BBC which included shocking undercover footage shot inside Dogs4Us puppy farm suppliers.

The Boycott Dogs4Us Team then attended the UK’s largest anti-puppy farming event PupAid to spread the word about our campaign.

In Leeds we delivered a Deputation to Full Council calling for a ban on the sale of puppies in Leeds pet shops. A vote was held and the Council unanimously agreed to pass the issue to the relevant department.

We held a rally for Puppy Farm Awareness Day in Manchester City Centre. The rally was attended by actress Shobna Gulati (Anita in Victoria Wood’s Dinnerladies and Sunita Alahan in Coronation Street) and speeches were given by or on behalf of numerous dog welfare/animal protection groups including Manchester Animal Action and the Linton Pet Shop Campaign.

In Salford (Manchester) following our lobbying efforts the Council began a consultation into license conditions for pet shops. We submitted a response to the consultation thanking the Council for beginning to address the issue and to point out shortcomings in their proposed changes. We also staged a protest in Salford town centre at the end of the consultation period.

We held a protest at Leeds Town Hall calling on the Council to end the sale of puppies in pet shops and by other third-party dealers in Leeds.

The next day we met with Leeds Council representatives securing commitments to investigate concerns raised by our campaign.

Finally we held two days of action at the Manchester and Leeds stores educating the public as to why puppies are not presents.

Sadly champion of puppy farm dogs Lucy The Rescue Cavalier passed away in the run up to this two days of action. Therefore our campaign decided to hold a minutes silence for Lucy at our Manchester event. Other campaigners including our friends at C.A.R.I.A.D galvanised thousands of people across the world to join the minutes silence remotely, spreading the message even further.

Boycott Dogs4Us would like to thank all the people and groups that have supported and helped the campaign throughout 2016. In 2017, we at Boycott Dogs4Us will be redoubling our efforts to support campaigns such as PupAid and C.A.R.I.A.D in their push for a ban on the sale of puppies in pet shops (and by other third-party dealers). We will also continue to push the Councils locally to take action against Dogs4Us.

With your help a better future is possible for the dogs!

To stay up to date about the campaign Like and Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook posts on the Dogs4Us Manchester and the Dogs4Us Leeds page encourage parents who are not looking to purchase a puppy to bring their children to their store. They are also running the ad on local Leeds radio station, Radio Aire. The only possible commercial reason for such an enticement is to encourage impulse purchases of puppies.

‘Pester power’ leads parents to make spur of the moment decisions. Many puppies are bought for the summer holidays only to be put up for sale/re-homing once the school term starts.

Dogs continue to be put to sleep due to a lack of good homes. If you have space in your life for a dog, please visit a rescue centre. Adopt, don’t shop.

Dogs4us runs a blog where they attempt to intimidate campaigners by posting pictures of them and their homes, this doesn’t bother anyone but as the business has so few customers there is little else for them to do but post online.

What was interesting this time around was that the picture they had posted of the protest had one banner blanked out. All the other banners were intact and displayed on their website but one was not. Why? Because that banner stated ‘Exposed by Channel 5 News and Sky News’!

That one banner exposed the truth that Dogs4us want to hide – that this isn’t the ravings of extremists but a carefully researched campaign that started with an undercover investigation that even the mainstream press covered!

Dogs4us also took a picture of a child protester and posted it on their blog without the mothers permission. This young lad who voluntarily chose to spend his Sunday holding a sign – because he loves animals so much and hates what Dogs4us do – should be commended not ridiculed. He does not deserve to have the perverts at Dogs4us taking his picture. But that is the lengths Dogs4us will go to hide from the truth!

So now you know. Join the campaign and refuse to buy anything from Dogs4us while they still sell puppies!

Like this:

Dogs4us in a desperate attempt to defend their sale of puppies have stated on their website that they ‘mostly’ use licensed breeders as a source of their puppies!

While we know that a breeding licence doesn’t mean good conditions as the many welsh puppy mills attest, we find it remarkable that Dogs4us do not even view this basic minimum as a necessity for their puppies!

So where are ‘some’ of your puppies coming from Dog4us? Unlicensed breeders? Individuals? ie. backyard breeders!